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The News Agents

How close are we really to a united Ireland?

The News Agents

Global

Government, News, Daily News, Politics

4.15.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Northern Ireland's new first minister Michelle O'Neill has had her knuckles metaphorically rapped by the PM - who's warned politicians to "focus on the day to day" of the brand new power sharing deal - and not start conversations about a united Ireland.

Could Ireland really unite within he decade? How many voters want to see that happen? And are we missing the bigger picture of what this deal actually means and where the vulnerabilities still lie?

Later, Chris Steele is the former MI6 officer sued by Trump over the 'pee pee gate dossier'. That case has now been thrown out by a judge. He talks us through what it was like being sued by the former president and his fears that the US security services will be cowed into covering up what they know - if Trump returns.

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello, it's Lewis here. Just so you know, you will have undoubtedly seen by now the news from Buckingham Palace that King Charles III has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. Needless to say, we recorded this episode before that news broke, but on Tuesday's episode, we will be discussing the full implications of it. For now, this is Monday's show.

0:26.1

This is a Global Player original podcast. My election to the post of First Minister demonstrates the change that's happening on this

0:30.6

island and that's a good thing. It's a healthy thing because this change I think can benefit us all.

0:35.6

And I believe that we can do two things at once. We can

0:38.5

have power sharing. We can make it stable. We can work together every day in terms of public

0:42.6

services. And whilst we also pursue our equally legitimate aspirations. That is the new

0:48.6

First Minister of Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill. She is the first, Sinn Féin, the first nationalist

0:55.7

first minister or indeed leader of Northern Ireland in its over 100 year history. She became

1:02.4

first minister on Saturday when Stormant, the Northern Irish government, took its place again.

1:07.8

But within 48 hours already, the delicate power sharing arrangements are

1:14.2

already being buffeted by that question. Does a Sinn Féin First Minister mean that Irish

1:20.2

unification is on the way? Today, we peep behind the curtain and ask what we now know about the compromises that had to be made to get that deal done and what the chances are of it really lasting.

1:34.9

Welcome to the newsagents.

1:39.7

The newsagents.

1:42.0

It's Emily.

1:43.0

It's Lewis.

1:43.4

And in a moment, a little bit later, we'll be talking to Christiel, the ex-M-I-6 officer,

1:49.0

who Donald Trump tried to sue over claims that Christel made in a dossier several years ago

1:55.9

about what Donald Trump did or didn't do with sex workers in a Moscow hotel room.

2:02.4

Kristiel tells us what security forces here and in the US are thinking right now,

2:08.8

ahead of a potential second term for Donald Trump.

2:11.6

But first, we are going to talk about what happened at the weekend in Northern Ireland,

...

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